Korea House – Korean – Nottingham (Beeston)

A chance dinner took me to Beeston once again in 2017 following a reasonably successful visit to The Frustrated Chef. Sitting in my friends house in Chilwell we considered our options, yes I still need to pay a visit to Amore’s and Edward’s Kitchen but the flavours of Asia were what appealed most.

Korea House is slap bang in the middle of things on Beeston High Road, not far from Middle Street tram stop. It’s interior is built for function and little else but its a pleasant enough space to eat in. You’re surrounded by wood in a long rectangular room with a small bar at the kitchen end opposite the entrance. We seemed to arrive on an evening where a new waiter was being trained as he was being watched closely by another member of staff. It was one of those experiences where you make pains to pronounce the dish until they step in with, “yes, number 53”, rendering your attempts pointless. Given the novice staff the experience wasn’t particularly smooth but hard to judge how it would usually be so I’ll give benefit of the doubt.

Stir Fried Squid – Korea House – Nottingham (Beeston)

They do offer the Korean BBQ experience with a little hotplate in the middle of the table for you to cook various marinated meat or fish. Whilst I enjoy this, and have sampled it at Miss Korea in the city centre, I find it difficult to review. Aside from the quality of the meat there is little to comment on as the diner does most of the work! Outside of that option the menu has noodle dishes and rice bowls at its heart. It was one of these I selected from, Kimchi Bokkeum-Bap with pork. Dishes arrived at a good pace and it was a pleasantly healthy portion, especially for £7.50. There was an underlying tang and spice from the kimchi (fermented cabbage with chilli) and it really hit the right flavour notes that I was after. The only criticism was that the pork wasn’t too prevalent, either a lack of it or just too finely diced to make an impact. I also took the opportunity to try some stir-fried squid in chilli sauce. The sauce itself was good, packing a punch but maintaining a good flavour too. There were plenty of accompanying vegetables which were chunky, crunchy and generally enjoyable. I just couldn’t get behind the squid, it was too squid-y. Maybe a touch overcooked but possibly just not high quality it had a bit too much of a fishiness. I corroborated this with my fellow diner who agreed and decided that the mushrooms were the best bit.

Bokkeum-Bap – Korea House – Nottingham (Beeston)

I don’t know if Korea House is particularly popular amongst the locals but I can’t see why it wouldn’t be. It is certainly the sort of place I could pop to for a big bowl of rice and a Asahi and happily pay little over £10 for the privilege. Beeston can be proud of their diverse, burgeoning food scene and Korea House is another example of that. Residents of Beeston; let me know if there is anywhere else worth a journey alongside my recent mentions and the stalwarts of Café Roya, The Vic and Yiannis.